This model of Flo, from Pixar’s Cars, is just fantastic. Peter Blackert (lego911) has managed to capture the iconic Cars look perfectly. I especially love the way he’s used an upside-down fender piece for the bottom lip. Also, the fact that he brick-built the eyes, rather than using a sticker, really puts it over the top. I’d love to see this built from real bricks, rather than as a render, but I doubt most of the parts are available in this color. If you’re a Cars fan, or a fan of cars, take a look through Peter’s Flickr gallery, it’s chock full of great models.

I try to avoid posting creations based on the Halo games. There are simply too many of them around, and I don’t really think anyone wants to see another attempt at a Warthog. This diorama by legomocs. forced my hand, though. The micro scale frigate is nicely rendered, as is the accompanying Covenant spire, but neither is what caught my attention. The shape of the diorama and the angle of the ship combine to give this creation a great sense of motion. It’s difficult not to imagine the continuing flight path of the frigate, after seeing this one moment caught in time.

I wonder if this diorama by Karwick stirs up memories for any of our readers. It depicts an AFOL father who’s decided to take over his children’s Lego collection, and start building. I’ll take the tied up children as a bit of poetic license.

The story aside, this diorama is packed full of well-built details. A few of note are the radiator under the shelf on the right side, the wall light above the bed, with cord leading to an outlet, and the clever floor.

What can I say to add to the experience of viewing this amazingly bizarre creation by halfbeak? It does make interesting use of some parts (like car doors on the arms), but that’s certainly not what caught my eye. This is an engaging character, and that’s why I like it.

Breaking news from LEGO. It appears that LEGO Universe will be shutting down at the start of the new year. My heart goes out to all those who will be losing their jobs. Here’s the press release:

LEGO Universe to close in 2012

Online game will close on January 31, 2012. The LEGO Group’s digital offerings will continue to develop over the coming years.

November 4, 2011 – The LEGO Group today announced that it will close LEGO® Universe, an MMOG (massively-multiplayer online game) that has been in operation since the autumn of 2010.

In spite of very positive player feedback and a large number of players in the free play zone, it has not been possible to convert a satisfactory number of players to paying subscribers. It has therefore been decided to close the game as of January 31, 2012.

“The LEGO Universe team can take pride in having developed and launched a great LEGO experience that many players will miss,” said Jesper Vilstrup, Vice President, LEGO Universe. “Right now, we have almost 2 million players in LEGO Universe, and we get extremely positive feedback from players. Unfortunately, we have not been able to build a satisfactory revenue model in our target group, and therefore, have decided to close the game.”

Despite the change, the ambition to develop and run a digital business remains. In future, it is the intention to further pursue cooperation with partners. The LEGO Group has a strong and continuing partnership with TT Games Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to create digital LEGO experiences within video games. A further expansion in the digital area will mainly be based on similar partnerships.

“The development of our digital offerings continues to be a very important element in our strategy,” said Mads Nipper, Executive Vice President, LEGO Group. “We have more than 20 million visitors on www.LEGO.com every month, and LEGO video games are among the bestselling children’s video games with sales of more than 60 million units in the last five years. Through our experience developing and running LEGO Universe, we have gained a lot of valuable insights, and we have a very strong foundation for future development in the digital area.”

As a consequence of the closure, the LEGO Universe staff has today been informed that the ‘Play Well Studios’ in Louisville, Colorado and the game’s marketing function in Billund, Denmark will be closed. This will affect 115 employees. All affected employees will be offered assistance in finding new jobs inside or outside the LEGO Group.

If you’re not familiar with the Family Guy spoofs of Star Wars, I suggest you look into them. Even if you don’t know the original source, you have to love car_mp‘s rendition of big-headed baby Stewie as Darth Vader. I like this enough that I may have to build one for myself.

It’s been quite awhile since I’ve built anything with my own Lego, but I’m going to post something anyways. I built this light transport helicopter months ago, and have finally managed to get the photos together. I tried to spice things up with a little scene this time, although it may be too little for the helo.

I’m a big fan of tilt-rotors, though I hear this is properly called a tilt-wing. Either way, the tilting adds a fun little activity, when swooshing this thing around.

I don’t know what the Get Robo company does, but I know I like this sculpture if their mascot by Ewok in Disguise. The robot is cute, and incorporates some intersting building techniques in the torso. Frankly, I think it’s better looking than the source image he based it on.

Building a realistic looking car out of LEGO is an impressive feat. Building a realistic looking crashed car out of LEGO is something else altogether. The little details on this scene by zgrredek are just spectacular. Check out the crumpled hood, smashed roof, and bent bumper, just don’t ask me why the driver appears to be holding a green ball.